Could Americans have done more to stop the blood bath in Cuba? Some tried and they died

THE DOGS OF WAR began nipping at the heels of the Grant Administration when Spanish officials began executing the captain and crew as well as the passengers of the Virginius, an American flagged merchant ship, in Santiago de Cuba. A few were saved when Captain Lorraine of the British warship HMS Niobe sailed into Santiago harbor and threatened to level the town if the executions were not halted immediately.

Newspaper etching depicting Spanish sailors boarding the Virginius (click to enlarge)

The Virginius was a former Civil War blockade runner that had been leased to the Cuban revolutionary junta in New York to transport weapons and supplies to the rebels in Cuba. Long a target of the Cuban authorities, it was finally seized on October 31, 1873, by the Spanish warship Toronado and sailed to Santiago where all aboard were imprisoned. Thirty-six crewmen and sixteen passengers, including Pedro Cespédes, son of the rebel general, were ordered to be shot to death. 

The Virginius affair involved two separate issues: the law of the sea and the law of humanity. Regardless of the legal status of the ship, the United States condemned the executions as barbaric and another example of Spanish brutality. As a matter of maritime law, the captain of the Toronado made the mistake of seizing the Virginius on the high seas. It was actually captured near Jamaica. He should have waited until it entered Cuban territorial waters. But the Spanish had been frustrated in their attempts to take the smuggler because the ship was built to dart in and out of coves and inlets where most seagoing ships, especially warships, were ill-suited.

Americans were horrified by the barbaric execution of passengers and seamen taken from the Virginius (click to enlarge)

Even Hamilton Fish, Grant's Secretary of State, was caught up in the moment. Even though he had worked assiduously to avoid confrontation with Spain and thwart the plans of his Minister to Spain as well as the Secretary of War, both of whom were anxious to pursue annexation or purchase of Cuba, Fish dashed off a demand for reparations in which he stipulated: (1) Restoration of the Virginius; (2) Immediate release of the American prisoners; (3) Salute of the American flag in Santiago; and (4) Punishment of the Spanish officers responsible for the executions.

Spain was insulted by the American demands. They responded officially that they acted legally and with honor. Their press took up the cry claiming that the whole affair was nothing more than an expression of the anti-Spanish biases of the American Minister, Daniel Sickles. They dismissed the executions as merely “an unfortunate occurrence” and that the shootings had stopped under orders from the governor-general in Havana. No mention was made of the threat from a British warship. 

America responded by recalling its diplomats from Spain, ordinarily a prelude to war. The Spaniards were surprised by the resolve shown by the United States government and quickly backpedaled. They soon acceded to American demands, asking only to delay punishment of the Spanish officials in Cuba until they had sufficient time to investigate further. The surviving crew were released to American custody and war was averted.

The Ten Years War ended in Cuba three years after the blowup over the Virginius. All sides simply ran out of energy and resources. The Spanish had lost more than 150,000 soldiers and spent more than 700 million pesos. All of the rebel commanders except for Maceo and Vicente Garcia had surrendered their weapons. Fighting had been reduced to an occasional raid on a plantation. A treaty was signed at Zanjón promising more autonomy for the Cubans and granting amnesty to the rebels.

One rebel leader, Calixto García, rejected the terms of the treaty and was exiled to France. He returned to continue the fight against the hated Spanish in what became known as the Guerra Chiquita or “Little War.” It kept the spirit of rebellion alive until the next chapter in Cuban-American relations unfolded.